Warhammer 40K: First Strike Starter Set Review

First of all, I really love that Games Workshop is providing a very, very low price starter set that is actually playable out of the box and features push-fit miniatures molded in color. You even get a playmat and piece of terrain (the box!) that is done up to look like the lovely Munitorium Armored Containers. For under $40, kids or curious adults have an option to see if the Warhammer rabbit hole is a good fit. It's a similar approach to Thunder and Blood, the recent Age of Sigmar starter set, but it's at an even lower price point. It includes a great 24 page rulebook with extensive (possibly excessive) explanations and a 56 page fluff book with painting guides and lore.

The color-molded minis make me think of older GW titles like Space Crusade. This is a good thing.

As a literal "first strike", the value here just can't be beat. You don't even have to invest in a $5 bottle of glue to put the 15 figures together, and given that 8th edition is easy enough to pretty much open the rules and just go, I don't know that I've ever seen a better way to introduce the game. The low model count- three Intercessors and three Reivers on the Space Marine side and three Plague Marines and six Poxwalkers on the Death Guard side- keeps things simple as well, without complex unit rules or anything like that. And you even get some really nice datasheet cards- something I wish that GW would include with ALL of their miniatures.

But there is another value to this set beyond its market position as a first purchase. It's also a pretty decent second purchase if you've gone all in on the Dark Imperium box set or the slightly downscaled Know No Fear starter set because there are no duplicate miniatures. The three Plague Marines included in First Strike effectively complete the squad from those sets and the six Poxwalkers are different sculpts. Likewise, the Intercessors are different and the Reivers are totally new to this set. So it's a great complementary purchase and even if you don't need the newbie stuff, it's still a cost savings over buying the new miniatures in their individual boxes.

Tremendous game, itty bitty box.

So this is a cool, fun set that I really appreciate. My more cynical side wants to chafe about those three Plague Marines and the Reivers not being present in the otherwise near-perfect Dark Imperium set, but I think it was a smart move to move some pieces out into a separate purchase that also happens to be very new player friendly.

In terms of more solid criticism, as is usually the case all of that newbie material isn't really of any lasting value if you decide to go all-in down the grimdark path of polystyrene addiction and in some ways the game at this small of a level doesn't really start to get into the more interesting intricacies of unit selection, loadouts, terrain, and movement. There's just one sort of default scenario, and it isn't particularly compelling. Past low-cost starters, like Thunder and Blood and Storm of Sigmar gave you a little more to do with your first miniatures. It is also, to some degree deceptive. If a kid gets a hold of this set and enjoys the push-fit miniatures that are conveniently color-coded, there really isn't an intermediary step before you are getting into complex models and painting requirements. And the low cost is a HUGE bait and switch- someone getting into Warhammer through First Strike may never again buy 15 miniatures for under $40.

Let's face it; this is essentially a loss-leader marketing tool. But that doesn't foreclose on it being a good introductory set and a nice way to offer veterans some new models at bundle pricing. It's a teeny tiny little box full of the best edition of Warhammer 40k to date, and it's hard to seriously fault that.